“He-Man and friends were a big part of my son’s young life,” Giffen said. “That meant that they became a big part of my life too. I can still rattle off the plotlines to more than a few of the cartoons and am still pretty good at reattaching the arms and legs of woefully abused action figures. I’m thinking that more than qualifies me to write the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe comic book. Well… that and the fact that I so want to. I mean, c’mon… it’s He-Man!”

Robinson was solicited as the writer for issues 2 and 3, and in fact is still listed on the DC Comics website as the writer for both (as I type this, anyway). The post doesn’t mention why they’ve made the abrupt change. Robinson is in San Diego this week, so no doubt the question will be asked.

Robinson is certainly busy enough right now, what with Earth 2 and apparently some sort of Image series that will be announced on Saturday.

Matt

Paul

Andrew

I was one of DC’s fans who championed the reboot and what it could mean for the publisher and comics in general, despite many changes that I didn’t necessarily like, but this constant creator shuffle is quickly wearing on my nerves. This WAS a title I was thinking about investing in but I’ve started to re-think it. Don’t get me wrong, BOTH of those writers are great talents, just I question if this is another George Perez on Superman type of thing- things being changed until it just becomes a trainwreck.

This kills much of my interest for the book. It makes me think that the line is being over-managed though, as I get the feeling Robinson is on the series he is on in order to avoid too much editorial interference.

carparts

Why would anyone bother with He-Man comics when there are already Conan comics out there? One of the Ion TV channels plays reruns of the He-Man cartoon constantly and I have to say, they are pretty darn terrible. I mean, the whole thing was just the cheapest animation thrown together to sell toys. I invite anyone to sit through an episode of that show and then tell me with a straight face that anyone involved in creating that show gave half a shit about the end product. Robinson is right to split on this gig. I mean, if they’re going to be true to the original version of He-Man, shouldn’t they just ship these issues off to be drawn by kids in some sweat shop in Korea or something?

Best news about this series. The first issue was very poor, and Robinson himself admitted he had no prior knowledge of the franchise. Plus, Giffen understands “fun” like few, so he can sure put some fun back into MotU.

Plus, much like Blue Beetle, MotU already has a legacy element, since Prince Adam is the latest (and greatest) of a long line of He-Men (which is the title given to the champions sworn to the defend the Sword of He). This was Mattel’s way of incorporating the storylines of the original mini-comics (where He-Man was a barbarian) into the cartoon canon.

Andrew Collins

Childhood nostalgia. Pure and simple. I LOVED He-Man as a kid in the 80’s, and had most of the figures. But I had the misfortune of watching an episode as an adult and…yeah. I have no interest in this new series, but I can see where some people may pick it up out of enjoyment for the characters, based on their memories of the toys/characters from long ago.

Bicycle-Repairman

“I mean, if they’re going to be true to the original version of He-Man, shouldn’t they just ship these issues off to be drawn by kids in some sweat shop in Korea or something?”

“He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” was actually one of the few TV animated series from the 1980s made entirely in the U.S. American animators were paid more than animators in Asia so Filmation tried to save time and money by reusing drawings.

Matt D

I read the first issue and not only it was bad (in my opinion, of course), but you don’t get to see He-Man in action. It seems to follow the same format that the Earth 2 book is following, introducing one or two characters per issue. We can’t discard some production problems, but since the announcement was made only a week after the first issue is published and the book has been delayed a month. It sounds to me like Mattel might have asked for some sort of change in the script, and DC had to pick somebody on the fly…

I mean, issue #2 was supposed to be publish in August, that script has to be done and Philip Tan probably already pencilled it… I’d bet that they probably had some work already done for issue #3. Now Giffen has to write fast and I wouldn’t be surprised if issue #2 has more than 1 penciller and none of them are Philip Tan.

Nostalgia aside, the story didn’t even make sense on its own. You understand the issue better because of the interview that Robinson gave at MTV geek, but the comic itself doesn’t explain things properly, and it leads you to think that Skeletor is aware of He-Man’s secret identity and where the de-powered He-Man is living, so he waits until He-Man remembers who he is before attacking him…. yeah, that makes sense.

Michael

carparts:
The same reason they still make Batman comics, even though Batman comics right up through the ’60s were juvenile and often “pretty darn terrible.” Same reason GI Joe and Transformers comics keep being produced, despite having ’80s cartoons that were “pretty darn terrible.” There is a large group of fans who grew up with the stuff that now wants more material featuring these characters, and the examples above prove that just because something was juvenile or poorly-done in the past, there is no reason it has to continue being so.

That aside, MOTU has a rich comic book history that predates the cartoon, and is superior to it.

Bob

DC seems to be needing a lot of Clarence Carters lately. Seems to be the same writers all the time picking up these still-birth books and trying to put some life into them. For me, this says I am done buying DC titles until they are out for a while. Then I get the $1 discount as I buy digital, and I can be sure that the authors vision stays solid.

Nothing against Keith, but him getting sloppy seconds like that where he has to take something someone else started and make it his own? I would rather a book that started from Keith from day one.

Chris E.

“Nothing against Keith, but him getting sloppy seconds like that where he has to take something someone else started and make it his own? I would rather a book that started from Keith from day one.”

YES, If Robinson cant finish then cancel the title and put together a new story with talent that can finish and tell the story “they” want. Giffen’ work would have been better from the outset than having to salvage something from Robinson. Too bad Giffen couldn’t just give DC the middle finger and make a living doing his own work at IMage or Dynamite. I think it is a shame he is treated this way by DC.

beane2099

I’ll be the first to say that Robinson’s work had declined. That “Cry for Justice” mini annd his run on JLA in general were pretty bad. However I love his Earth 2 stuff. I just hope the payoff is as good as the build up. But for better or worse I love his retooling of the Justice Society. I also liked the first issue of He Man.

“Why would anyone bother with He-Man comics when there are already Conan comics out there? One of the Ion TV channels plays reruns of the He-Man cartoon constantly and I have to say, they are pretty darn terrible.”

Because He-Man has a fantastic rogues gallery with tons of potential for stories you couldn’t do with Conan. Also, the minicomics that came with the figures (and which had little in common with the animated series) were legitimately great, no nostalgia required.